Indian war elephants used for warfare were drugged to make them mad.
Lariam: Hundreds of British soldiers suffering from mental illness after being given anti-malarial drug
Exclusive: Shocking figures reveal scale of mental health problems among veterans treated with Lariam
The Ministry of Defence (MoD) has been accused of knowingly risking
the mental health of its own soldiers after new figures showed that
nearly 1,000 British servicemen and women have required psychiatric
treatment after taking a discredited anti-malarial drug.
Psychosis, suicidal thoughts, depression and hallucinations are among
the mental-health problems associated with Lariam, also known as
mefloquine.
But the MoD has rejected all appeals to stop giving
the drug to troops posted overseas – to the mounting fury of relatives,
politicians and retired military figures who fear it could be
responsible for an epidemic of psychiatric illness in Britain’s Armed
Forces.
Read more:
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Lariam timeline: From approval to psychosis warnings
Editorial: The Army's use of Lariam places cost above safety
The Independent
can reveal that a retired major-general who was given Lariam prior to a
deployment to Sierra Leone is among those struggling with the
after-effects.
Maj-Gen Alastair Duncan, who commanded British
forces in Bosnia, is currently in a secure psychiatric unit after a
post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) episode over Christmas.
His wife, Ellen, told The Independent:
“Like others, I believe that this is a scandal. If 1,000 troops have
reported the effects then you can be sure there are others who have not.
I know personally of several and anecdotally of many more. “The
long-term effects of this will be more and more in evidence over the
coming years,” she added, saying the MoD appeared to be “staggeringly
unprepared to deal with the fallout”.
Lt-Col Alastair Duncan, who commanded British forces in Bosnia, is currently in a secure psychiatric unit (Corbis)
In October 2013, Roche, the manufacturer of Lariam, wrote to doctors in Britain warning that “hallucinations, psychosis, suicide, suicidal thoughts and self-endangering behaviour have been reported” and that the drug “may induce potentially serious neuropsychiatric disorders.
It
was declared a “drug of last resort” by the US military two years ago,
and the US Special Forces Command has banned its use. Alternative
anti-malarial drugs are available.
Drug banned in US given to British soldiers fighting the virus in West Africa
The human cost of the UK’s suicide drug scandal
Soldiers still suffering serious mental illness linked to Lariam
Yet
hundreds of British soldiers are still falling victim to the drug’s
side-effects each year, as the MoD continues to give it to troops
deployed to sub-Saharan Africa, and parts of South-east Asia and Latin
America.
New figures released by the MoD in response to a Freedom
of Information (FoI) request reveal that 994 service personnel – the
equivalent of two infantry battalions – have been admitted to
psychiatric hospitals or treated at mental health clinics after being
prescribed Lariam since 2008. Previous figures had suggested the number
of personnel requiring treatment was substantially lower, at around 700.
The
figures also show that Lariam was given to 1,892 British service
personnel in 2014 – a year in which 263 needed medical treatment as a
result of taking the drug. In total, 17,000 service personnel have been
given Lariam over the last seven years.The victims range from rank-and-file soldiers to senior officers. And the true scale of the problem is likely to be even greater than the new figures suggest, as they do not include those who were given Lariam prior to 2007.
Given the stigma which surrounds mental health issues in the military, many soldiers seek medical treatment as a last resort. Many cases are resolved by support from military social workers or padres “without the need for further referral”, states the MoD’s FoI response.
Since The Independent first revealed concerns over the military’s use of the drug 18 months ago, the MoD has ignored repeated calls from senior military figures and medical experts to discontinue its use.
17,000 service personnel have been given Lariam over the last seven years
Responding to the new statistics yesterday, General Lord Dannatt, former head of the British Army, said: “It is extraordinary that the MoD continues with this policy given the mounting evidence as to the harmful effects of Lariam. The MoD should decide as a matter of urgency to no longer prescribe Lariam but use some other malaria prophylactic.”
And
Madeleine Moon, Labour parliamentary candidate for Bridgend and former
member of the Commons Defence Select Committee, said: “This is a
horrific statistic and it beggars belief that the MoD is still refusing
to stop dispensing Lariam.” She added: “Our service personnel, who
cannot refuse to take this drug, deserve better than the MoD imposing
what is in effect a Russian roulette risk.”
The anti-malarial was
developed by the US Army in the 1970s, but its reputation has suffered
in recent years amid repeated warnings over its side-effects and the
increasing popularity of alternatives.
Almost a decade ago Dr Franz B Humer, then chairman of Roche,
told the company’s annual general meeting in 2007: “More effective
anti-malarials with better side-effect profiles were now available, and
these were generally used.”
Maj-Gen Patrick Cordingley DSO,
commander of the Desert Rats during the Gulf War, took the drug about 25
years ago. “It was a thoroughly unpleasant experience and I wouldn’t
put anyone through it – I’m amazed that the Ministry of Defence allows
it to be used.
“It had the most terrible effect on me, I wasn’t
quite delirious but I was extremely unpleasant and out of my mind. That
lasted for three or four days, and then I felt woolly headed for quite a
long time.”
Maj-Gen Julian Thompson, who commanded 3 Commando
during the Falklands War, said: “Having twice used Lariam myself when
travelling to Africa, I switched to Malarone over 10 years ago, after I
experienced hallucinations.”
Lariam is significantly cheaper than
alternative drugs, being around half the cost of Doxycycline and a third
of the cost of Malarone.
“I can only come to the conclusion that
the MoD has a large supply of Lariam, and some ‘chairborne’ jobsworth in
the MoD has decreed that as a cost-saving measure, the stocks are to be
consumed before an alternative is purchased,” said Maj-Gen Thompson.
Public
Health England’s current guidance on malaria states that “increased
neuropsychiatric adverse events” have been found in those who take
Lariam compared to people who take other anti-malarials, and that it
“may increase the risk of psychosis and anxiety reactions”.
General Lord Dannatt, former head of
the British Army, said the MoD should no longer prescribe Lariam 'as a
matter of urgency' (Getty)
Lt-Col Ashley Croft, who served for more than 27 years in the Royal Army Medical Corps and is an expert on malaria, said: “It has been known since the early 1990s that mefloquine/Lariam causes neuro-psychiatric illness, including psychotic episodes, in some users.”
Defence
ministries in Germany, the Netherlands, Denmark, and Canada have either
banned the use of Lariam, or use it as a last resort, according to
Lt-Col Croft. “The French military, although with a large presence in
the tropics, has deliberately and sensibly never used the drug, for
malaria prophylaxis.”
He described the MoD’s continuing use of the
drug as “reckless, and shows a callous disregard for the safety and
welfare of its personnel”.
The Medicines and Healthcare Products
Regulatory Agency has received 2,248 reports of “adverse reactions” to
the drug since 1986, in the form of “psychiatric disorders”. During
this time, 44 people have become suicidal, with nine killing themselves.
Jane
Casperson-Quinn’s husband Cameron, an infantry major, committed suicide
in 2006 – five years after taking Lariam. Responding to the new figures
released by the MoD, she said: “Their continued blanket prescribing of
this dangerous neuro-toxic drug represents a fundamental failure to
protect those who are protecting us, and this is inexcusable.”
Yet
there are no signs of the policy changing. In a statement, an MoD
spokesperson said: “All our medical advice is based on the current
guidelines set out by Public Health England.
“Based on this expert
advice, the MoD continues to prescribe mefloquine (Lariam) as part of
the range of malaria prevention treatments recommended, which help us to
protect our personnel from this disease.”
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